1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention pertains to winches, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved portable winch formed with an elongate housing with an aligned series of components for ease of portability and use of the winch.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of winches for the pulling and towing of various articles is well known in the prior art. The history of powered winches has been developed to ease the physical requirement of users and provide sufficient mechanical advantage to a tow-in line to enable manipulation of various objects to be pulled. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,042,375 to Fahey sets forth a portable winch including an offset electric motor to drive an associated drum for pulling in a line which is oriented generally orthogonally to the drive motor and is secured generally to a rather massive structure wherein the portability of the winch of Fahey appears to rely on the use of light-weight magnesium and the like to limit weight, but the Fahey patent sets forth a winch of rather expansive and elaborate structure as opposed to the instant invention which sets forth an aligned series of components for portability and provides for a rechargeable battery pack to provide motivation to a tow-in line.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,666 to Haberthier sets forth a framework for attachment of a winch wherein the essence of the invention includes an integral mounting stand, motor and spindle removably mounted to a mounting plate by a series of bolted pins to provide for selective securement of the winch to a support as desired where essentially the function and structure of the patent is of a relatively remote organization to that of the instant invention to set forth a uniquely portable hand-held winch for selective use by an individual.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,929,555 to Sanders is cited for the use of a battery-powered winch wherein an elaborate framework secures a winch in an underlying position to a conventional automotive wet cell to enable stripping of layer material from a conveyor secured between a clamping arrangement in an aligned remote orientation relative to the winch. The Sanders patent is of interest relative to a portable winch in that the entire framework is secured on wheels, but the essence of the winch is quite removed structurally and functionally from the instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,323 to Sekimori, et al., provides an electric winch system for use in apparent combination in an automotive environment wherein the patent essentially sets forth the cooperation of the various winch components to that of the automotive environment for use. The patent is essentially a refinement of conventional winches commercially available.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,093 to Plummer sets forth a winch or cable pulling device wherein a control unit includes a force indicator gage with a switch and circuit breaker such that upon an overload level being approached, the winch power is interrupted.
As such, it may be appreciated that there is continuing need for a new and improved portable winch which combines the features of portability, alignment of components for effecting such portability, and ease of use, and in this respect the present invention substantially fulfills this need.